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One thing that I think helps Nintendo is that we've arguably reached peaked graphics, in the sense that the noticeable improvements with each and every console release seem to be getting smaller. I think graphics have reached the "good enough" stage for most people, with PC serving the needs of those who want the very best. With Switch, it looks like the graphical performance on a mobile device have reached a level whereby most people will be satisfied.

At the same time, it feels as though trying to sell a dedicated mobile gaming platform in the days of smartphones is like trying to sell a dedicated point-and-shoot camera. Is there still a market for a device that really only plays games when your phone can do that and so much more. Granted, smartphones (largely) aren't geared towards the kind of gaming experiences that are delivered via a home console, but is there still a big enough market for a dedicated gaming machine? I think what's needed for the Switch to survive is proof that the level of gaming provided by the Switch is a viable alternative to the home console. If Nintendo can offer a relatively similar home console experience that is also portable, they might succeed. Also key is third-party support. I suppose Nintendo including clips of Skyrim and NBA 2K17 is a good sign on that front.

I personally don't see myself getting one since I stopped playing video games over a year ago due to time limitations. Even if I did still play a lot, I'm not sure the mobile dynamic does anything for me, as I work from home and don't do a lot of traveling (and when I do travel, I prefer to read). But good luck to Nintendo. I do think this will be their last console. We're at a point now where the people who look back fondly at Nintendo's flagship properties (Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Metroid, etc.) are in their late 20s and older. The younger kids do not have the same attachments to Nintendo and its characters and are more likely tied to their Xboxes, Playstations, or iPhones.

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Also Nintendo's first party lineup is worth it for me alone. I didn't buy WiiU but I'll probably get one of these eventually.

Yeah, I only wonder how long Nintendo's first party lineup will remain popular enough to support Nintendo's proprietary hardware. There's an entire generation of kids and teens who don't give a shit about Mario or Zelda and are far more familiar with Halo, Call of Duty and GTA. As time moves forward the nostalgia factor won't matter as much to generations who never associated these characters and the games themselves with their youth. I could be wrong, but it feels as though Nintendo has been living on nostalgia for the past ten years. I'm just not sure how tenable that strategy is going forward.

In any event, it certainly looks a lot more promising than Wii U. What an absolute disaster of a console that was, from design to marketing.

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I see your point, definitely something to keep an eye on. And I do agree they stagnated with Wii quite a bit.

But I think Nintendo will always do well in Japan and that is all they really care about. Also Nintendo has massive cash reserves, so they probably don't really give a shit too much.

Yeah, I don't think Nintendo goes the way of Sega, but if the Switch fails (or does not reach some form of critical mass), how many more attempts are they going to take at releasing their own hardware?

I have a soft spot for Nintendo as they are very much tied to my youth (the Wii U was the only Nintendo home console I didn't buy; I even owned the Power Glove way back in 1990), but I just don't see how they remain relevant in a world dominated by Sony, Microsoft, Google, and Apple. Maybe I'm just being a cynic here, but they need either a revolutionary product that puts them in a different category than those other companies or they need to be able to compete on the same field. Hopefully the Switch is it, but i'm not holding my breath.

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One thing that I think helps Nintendo is that we've arguably reached peaked graphics, in the sense that the noticeable improvements with each and every console release seem to be getting smaller. I think graphics have reached the "good enough" stage for most people, with PC serving the needs of those who want the very best. With Switch, it looks like the graphical performance on a mobile device have reached a level whereby most people will be satisfied.

At the same time, it feels as though trying to sell a dedicated mobile gaming platform in the days of smartphones is like trying to sell a dedicated point-and-shoot camera. Is there still a market for a device that really only plays games when your phone can do that and so much more. Granted, smartphones (largely) aren't geared towards the kind of gaming experiences that are delivered via a home console, but is there still a big enough market for a dedicated gaming machine? I think what's needed for the Switch to survive is proof that the level of gaming provided by the Switch is a viable alternative to the home console. If Nintendo can offer a relatively similar home console experience that is also portable, they might succeed. Also key is third-party support. I suppose Nintendo including clips of Skyrim and NBA 2K17 is a good sign on that front.

I personally don't see myself getting one since I stopped playing video games over a year ago due to time limitations. Even if I did still play a lot, I'm not sure the mobile dynamic does anything for me, as I work from home and don't do a lot of traveling (and when I do travel, I prefer to read). But good luck to Nintendo. I do think this will be their last console. We're at a point now where the people who look back fondly at Nintendo's flagship properties (Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Metroid, etc.) are in their late 20s and older. The younger kids do not have the same attachments to Nintendo and its characters and are more likely tied to their Xboxes, Playstations, or iPhones.

I see where you're coming from with this, but it's worth pointing out that Nintendo's handheld devices have been stronger for them than their home console counterparts going back to the original Game Boy for the most part, except for maybe a brief period of time at the beginning of the Wii's lifespan. 3DS, which launched back in 2011, had a rough launch but it rebounded and ended up moving a lot of units. I do agree that with smartphone games and the such there's a tougher market for a handheld video game than there was compared to the 90's or 00's, but the performance of the 3DS has to at least be somewhat reassuring.

I think the fact that this seems to be Nintendo unifying their portable console market and home console market should help them. Nintendo's always had a habit of keeping certain games to certain consoles, with the home console being their machine for 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros, and Zelda while their handheld console is for things like Pokemon and Animal Crossing (and now you even have something like Fire Emblem suddenly becoming a very popular series an incredible 22 years after the first entry in the series released). If this machine is really going to be the house of both future Pokemon games and future Zelda/Mario games, then I'm interested to see if it can sustain itself basically off of that alone.

The Japanese market is actually where Nintendo handhelds have dominated as of late, so I'm very interested to see how this console will do there. The Wii U did horribly in Japan (and mostly everywhere) while the 3DS cleaned up. The Japanese market is known for being partial toward handheld consoles, but I wonder if the fact that this seems to be a bit of a hybrid between handheld and home console may actually harm it in Japan relative to the 3DS and DS. My hunch is that as long as it keeps getting Pokemon, Yokai Watch, and Monster Hunter games in Japan, it'll probably be fine.

As a Nintendo fan, I'm really excited over the prospect of both of their previous console archetypes being unified if that's actually what's happening. Having a lot of my favorite handheld series (Fire Emblem, Pokemon, Mario & Luigi) and my favorite home console series (3D Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc, etc) available on one console means this could end up having one of my favorite video game libraries to date.

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There needs to be a new Mega Man game for this, but Capcom hate me so it won't happen

13 hours ago, downzy said:

Yeah, I don't think Nintendo goes the way of Sega, but if the Switch fails (or does not reach some form of critical mass), how many more attempts are they going to take at releasing their own hardware?

I have a soft spot for Nintendo as they are very much tied to my youth (the Wii U was the only Nintendo home console I didn't buy; I even owned the Power Glove way back in 1990), but I just don't see how they remain relevant in a world dominated by Sony, Microsoft, Google, and Apple. Maybe I'm just being a cynic here, but they need either a revolutionary product that puts them in a different category than those other companies or they need to be able to compete on the same field. Hopefully the Switch is it, but i'm not holding my breath.

3

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Well, they said it would be a sucessor to the 3DS and Wii U. Guess it's true then. Oh, look. They have skyrim too. Now I can do boring chores on an empty game while doing chores on real life. I wonder if the new Zelda will have some gimmicky stuff from pokemon GO, like "get your ass out of the couch, grab your switch and walk 3 miles for some supplies that the game gives you anyway."

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In any event, it certainly looks a lot more promising than Wii U. What an absolute disaster of a console that was, from design to marketing.

The Wii U was a great console... as soon as you bought a Pro controller and used the gamepad as a coaster. What a horrendous launch. It's right up there, and probably above, the initial launches/reveals of PS3 and XBO for awfulness. That said, I had a lot of fun with it, there are some brilliant games on that thing, and it's actually the console that got me back into Nintendo. I'm interested in the Switch for sure, but I'm not going to rush out to get one until there are enough games that warrant it.

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Settle the rights issues with GoldenEye 007, get that on the virtual console, and I'll happily buy a Switch so I can play it wherever I go!

But on a more serious note, this console seems like a logical step for Nintendo. The 3DS continues to sell well and the Wii U flopped, so now here's a console that's the best of both worlds. The idea of having console quality games on what is essentially a glorified handheld is probably enough to move units, especially with the third party support. People will shit if they can play Call of Duty or whatever on the go in the same quality that they get on their television. If news hit that this thing would get upcoming Rockstar titles I'll be first in line to get one.

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Settle the rights issues with GoldenEye 007, get that on the virtual console, and I'll happily buy a Switch so I can play it wherever I go!

But on a more serious note, this console seems like a logical step for Nintendo. The 3DS continues to sell well and the Wii U flopped, so now here's a console that's the best of both worlds. The idea of having console quality games on what is essentially a glorified handheld is probably enough to move units, especially with the third party support. People will shit if they can play Call of Duty or whatever on the go in the same quality that they get on their television. If news hit that this thing would get upcoming Rockstar titles I'll be first in line to get one.

From a financial perspective, it would make all kinds of sense for Nintendo to throw a ton of money at Rockstar to port, say, an upcoming AAA title to the Switch. I really don't see Rockstar doing that unless an extremely sizeable monetary reward was accompanied with such a move. It's being reported that the Switch will be more powerful than a PS3 and Xbox360, but less powerful than the PS4 and XboxOne. I'm not sure if Rockstar would be willing to put in the extra work to visually downgrade one of their upcoming games that is designed for the latest console tech. Perhaps more likely is games like GTA IV and V, RDR1 get released for Switch.

There is a lot of potential if Nintendo launches the Switch with a robust catalogue of their greatest games. Being able to play many classic Nintendo titles (Mario Bros, Zelda, Metroid, Golden Eye, etc) on a handheld device that can also be played at home will help sell a lot of units. But this is Nintendo, a company that seems to do the right thing only after the window of interest grows much smaller by most consumers.

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Looking way better than the Nintendo tree house thing. I just hope it will have music like this instead of "nature sounds" as background and pieces of heart. Having to cook food to increase maximum health temporarily is bullshit. The weapon durability could also be scraped.